Archive for art

Celebrating the Blank Canvas

{ November 13, 2007 @ 9:00 pm } · { art, design }
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It is probably one of the most talked about aspects of art – staring at the blank canvas, or the blank page, afraid to take the first step. To make the first mark. Not knowing what to do first.

But I tell you, don’t fear the blank canvas – celebrate it! Rejoice in the infinitie possibilities!

I just bought 3 new canvases today. Fresh and pure. Their mere ‘whiteness’ inspires me. My only hesitation is what to start with first. Will I mar their perfectness by smudging something less than brilliant on them? Is perfection expected? Or even necessary?

Not at all!!!! By this afternoon I’ll have at least one less than perfect canvas that reflects the non-perfect me. It will be bright and bold and colourful with speckles of vibrant personality sprinkled throughout.  Or maybe dark and moody befitting a previous mood or sunny and full of expectations for the unknown wonders that will come to me today. The only thing I’m sure of is that it will reflect me at that moment I make the first mark. I might look upon it tomorrow and wonder what I was thinking.  Try to decipher the message that was so clear today. And a month from now I might even marvel at my own brilliance for a brief second or two before I push this canvas to the back of the closet, determined to work on a new masterpiece to reflect the new, ’more mature’ me.

Think of it like diving into a swimming  pool. You stand on the diving board, bouncing up and down as you look down at the crystal clear cold water. Anxious. Filled with dread for that first second when the cold wetness sucks you under, holding you in its icy grasp. And yet, you hunger for the coolness of the water, to slice into it with your body, as a knife in butter. The oppressive heat of the day depletes your energy and just inches away the pool offers a renewal of your body and spirit. Slowly you continue to bounce. Up. Down. Up. Down. When what you should really do is jump in excitedly as though you were five again and afraid of nothing, except maybe a wayward monster hiding in your closet.

Jump in without thinking. Just feel your inner child’s excitement. Its the same with the blank canvas. Or the blank page.

Finding the Courage

{ November 12, 2007 @ 7:55 pm } · { art, life }
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Finding courage to face the unknown, to take a chance, can be excruciatingly difficult. It seems I find myself at a crossroads right now in my life.

Do I have the courage to take a step? One simple step. In my reluctance to move forward I think I might have actually taken about 10 steps back. Circled around that very thing I want to do, analyzing it from every side. On my hands and knees, peering at its underbelly. On tiptoe peeking at the very top of it. And found a million reasons that I’m not ready to move forward.

And now I’m tormented by this project.  It taunts me day and night. “I’m here,” it says. “Maybe the most intense, powerful piece you’ll ever write,” it teases.

“Or the worst,” I groan. “Maybe I’m not up to the project,” I add agonizing as I curl up, hiding under the covers. But the simple reality is that I can’t ignore it.

This concept came to me well over 3 years ago and has danced on the perimeter of my brain ever since. Little snippets sing to me in the shower. Of course – no pen and paper there! And while I’m driving, I have a flash of clarity. An entire conversation writes itself in my mind, but there’s no place to pull over. By the next stoplight the words fade and I berate myself the rest of the drive that I couldn’t remember them for a mere 10 minutes.

The greatest story never written.

And maybe the worst story ever conceived? Maybe this is my self-defense, my salvation from ridicule? I can’t know until I take the first step. And the next. And the next. Baby steps would even work. At least they would be moving me forward even if I was unsteady on my feet, teetering and tottering drunkenly forward. I have support to hold on to, to help steady me and guide me towards really walking. Then sprinting. Running full speed, head-first arms flaying towards the finish line.

So, why the fear? Failure. A feeling I’m not completely accustomed to and want to avoid at any cost. But, avoiding failure – doesn’t that mean I avoid real success as well? Float along in a sea of mediocrity? Just good enough to stay afloat but never discovering the new land filled with exotic sights and smells lurking in the mist?

“Set sail for the high seas!” My characters taunt me, begging to be brought alive. Writing the story isn’t about me. It is about them. They plead again for life. And I realize that my sanity hinges on setting them free. Today. One step. One simple small step.

Worth Waiting For!

{ October 27, 2007 @ 5:50 pm } · { art, life }
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Finally, at long last I made it to the scrapbooking show. As I pulled into the parking lot my heart raced with anticipation. I was able to control myself from flying into a complete frenzy by circling the parking lot again, and again and again as I scoured it, looking for a parking space. At long last, a space!

As we headed into the show (did I mention that my 6-year-old son, also a scrapbooker went with me?) we were immediately struck by one thing. NOBODY leaving was smiling.  “Oh, no!”, I thought. “Have I been mislead? Is this going to turn into a disaster?”

Inside we were met with the sights and sounds  sure to make the heart of any true scrapbooker skip a beat.  The only problem? So much stuff and so little money! As most who participate in the hobby know, scrapbooking can be very expensive. I was so pleased to see not only were there prices good but there were great bargains to be had everywhere.

“I won’t buy anything until I’ve looked around first,” I told myself. Well, that resolve fell by the wayside at the very first booth I stopped at.  A scrapbook for $5.00?  Not an ugly scrapbook but a really pretty cover including a space for a picture to be included. Oh my! I had to have one!

We shopped and shopped and shopped. My son, had great fun looking at all of the ‘doo dads’ to add to his pages.  And we admired the completed pages up at all of the booths as inspiration. However, at one point Christopher looked a nice lady running a booth and said “You stole my idea!” When she asked what he meant, he explained that the use of a semi-circle on the side of a page was his idea, and trying to soften his ’strong words’ he added, “Well, maybe you didn’t steal it. But someone here did!” The two of them then had a very pleasant conversation about scrapbooking. Guess its not often that a 6-year-old is willing to share his scrapbooking design secrets!

At the end of the day (read end of the money) we trudged out to the car, weighted down with our bags filled with treasures.  Smiles on our faces we wondered aloud, ” So when is the next show? We can’t possibly wait a whole year!”

Patience is overrated!

{ October 26, 2007 @ 4:57 pm } · { art, life }
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The anticipation today is killing me. I can’t stand it! Its like being a kid at Christmas all over again.  I can feel the excitement bouncing all around me. The sights. The smells. The sounds. And its all only hours away. Tick tock. The clock tocks and ticks as though to mock me, tocking and ticking to go in reverse. The tension in my body mounts until I think I’m screaming. But wait, that’s only the voice inside of my head. (I can’t let others know I hear voices inside of my head. They might think I’m insane!)

But maybe I am insane? Could that be possible? Could I be losing my grip on reality? Two more hours to wait. The waiting is sending me right over the edge. My tenuous grip on reality is slipping away.  When will the scrapbooking show start?

“I am not crazy” I tell myself. ” I am NOT crazy” I repeat trying to convince myself. And then the little voice speaks to me again, loudly reverberating in my head, “Yes you are. You’re a scrapbooker!”

Check back later today for part two…….the saga continues!

In the Pink

{ October 22, 2007 @ 3:59 am } · { art, design, life }
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Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  Which defines your design work? Colour or mood? Hard to tell sometimes isn’t it?

Don’t you just love how you can affect the feeling of a whole design piece through the subtle use of colour?   Just using a different shade of pink, for example, can feed the emotions of the viewer. A deeper shade, closer to red will have one impact while a softer, cotton candy pink will elicit a completely different emotion.

Wow, now just think how easy it is to take a dark and gloomy day and colour it pink! Simple little things like the choice of clothing. A picture you put on your desk. Amazing really. What colour will you colour your world today?

Now think about how font plays into that…but that’s for another day!